


That one time Shawn was very, very, out of the loop

by never_bloom_again



Category: Psych (TV 2006)
Genre: Comedy, For the first part, Getting Together, Kinda, M/M, Mystery, POV Outsider, Psychic Visions, Shovel Talk, faked psychic visions, jules being a great friend, or well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-11 23:47:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28750917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/never_bloom_again/pseuds/never_bloom_again
Summary: Juliet had made some observations about her partner's behaviour. Unfortunately, despite his (fake) psychic powers, it takes Shawn a little longer to catch on.
Relationships: Carlton Lassiter/Shawn Spencer
Comments: 10
Kudos: 76





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first venture into writing fic for psych, and i really enjoyed it! i hope you like this fic :)

Although Juliet was often a little skeptical in regards to the existence of the psychic powers that Shawn claimed to have, his innate ability to tell whenever Lassiter was in a terrible mood always made her feel almost certain they existed, even just for a moment. Every time, without fail, when her partner was snapping at officers and frowning more than usual, Shawn would burst through the doors, sometimes with and other times without Gus trailing behind him, with moderate levels of exasperation and embarrassment painted on his face. (Juliet couldn’t help but wonder how he could still be bothered to be humiliated with Shawn’s antics, given that it seemed as though there would never be a time without them.)

Every time Juliet would see Carlton grouching around more so than usual, and their shift would be ticking by, she would question if this would be the time that Shawn didn’t come - and what that would mean for everyone who had to put up with the head detective - but every time, without fail, he would turn up.

In that same vein, every time Shawn would show up, armed with his theatrics, smoothies, snacks, or just his bright personality, and make Carlton’s frown deepen, until he left. Everytime Shawn left, there would be a small smile on her partner’s face.

At first, Juliet had simply attributed that to simply being relieved that his favourite annoyance had left, but that didn’t seem right. For all that Lassiter tended to complain endlessly about the psychic, when Shawn wasn’t undermining him or his work, Carlton tended to seem brighter around Shawn - she would even go as far as to say that she thought Carlton liked him.

What took a little bit longer for her to realise was in exactly what way Carlton liked Shawn. She kicked herself when she worked it out - it shouldn’t have taken her so long - all the clues were right in front of her eyes. It could be seen in the way that no matter how annoying Shawn was being, or how bad of a mood Carlton was in, he was never as mean to him as he was to her or McNab or any of the other officers; in the way that Carlton always seemed to end up touching Shawn when he really didn’t have to be. 

That was when she decided she had to look a bit closer - it was all well and good for her to think that was what she was seeing, but she wanted to be certain before she did anything. The next time Lassiter started snapping at her for no good reason other than the fact that he was frustrated himself, instead of rolling her eyes and diving back into work, she carefully and subtly observed her partner, biding time until the inevitable-

The doors of the precinct burst open, Shawn running in, making a bee-line for Carlton’s desk, with Gus following close behind, much more subdued. Watching Carlton closely, she could see the tiniest hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth, as he noticed Shawn, although it quickly turned to a grimace as he realised the psychic was just about close enough to see it.

Although she hung back at her own desk, and chatted to Gus, she kept an eye on Shawn and Carlton. Watching them, even out of the corner of her eye at points, made her question how on earth it had taken her so long to work out. For all that the head detective acted as though the supposed psychic was capable of nothing except being a significant annoyance, even just the way he looked at Shawn gave it all away.

Despite it being so blindingly obvious, and having the power of “the spirits” on his side, Shawn seemed so oblivious to it, so unaware of what was happening right in front of him.

Given Shawn’s propensity for being, well,  _ Shawn _ , there was no way that anything was going to end well. Juliet had only seen the very end of Lassiter’s marriage, and knowing that wasn’t the worst of it? She had to save him from going through that again.

\---

“Hi Jules!”

She nearly jumped out of her chair when she heard Shawn speak from behind her, yell-whispering the words.

“Hello Shawn… What are you doing here?”

Shawn sat down on the edge of her desk and looked at her, rolling his eyes, as though she has asked the most stupid question ever.

“My psychic senses told me I am needed here, of course! Now where is my good old Lassie-face?”

Carefully avoiding laughing, Juliet informed him that her partner was in, talking to the chief, and that he shouldn’t be long, in response to which Shawn nodded, looking almost pensive.

“I need to talk to you anyways,” she began. “About Lassiter.”

“What did Carly do now… He didn’t get accused of murder again, did he? Or is it the neighbours, suing over the squirrels? I’ve never tried talking to deceased squirrels before, but I can give it-”

“Shawn! I need you to listen! You need to start being nicer to Lassiter, okay?” Shawn raised an eyebrow, but let Juliet continue on. “He’s… not as strong as he wants us all to think, especially right now, and I think he would appreciate it if you toned the teasing down, just a bit.”

The look of confusion on Shawn’s face was somewhat hilarious, but the concern that followed was almost heartwarming - proof that even if it wasn’t the same way that Carlton cared for him, Shawn definitely did care for her partner.

“Is he okay? Do you need me to do anything?” As an afterthought, he tacked on, “or Gus?”

Jules smiled appreciatively, “It’s all good Shawn, he’s just a bit vulnerable, and I know you both tend to be less than nice to each other sometimes, and while it’s good natured… I don’t want him to end up hurt.”

“Coolio! I’ll make sure to keep that in mind,” Shawn grinned brightly, before mellowing down, just for a moment. “You’d tell me if something was seriously wrong, right?”

Once Juliet had nodded, Shawn raced over to sit at Lassiter’s desk, fiddling with the height of the chair as he waited for the detective’s return.


	2. Chapter 2

To say that Shawn had been confused when Juliet had pulled him over and spoken to him about his treatment of Lassie would be an understatement. “Tone down the teasing”? That was just how he and Carly were, that was just the way that their odd kinda-sorta-friendship had always worked, and nothing had really changed, had it?

And what did Jules know, anyway, that would make that much of a difference, that his favourite detective wouldn’t tell him? The more he considered it, that was probably a redundant question, because Lassie wouldn’t tell Shawn anything, even if he was dying, probably, but nonetheless! Surely Jules would have told him more if it was something that serious, wouldn’t she?

It was time for some detective work - and without any of his psychic-y performing - something was wrong with Lassie, and he was going to work it out. Without Gus’s help apparently, because when Shawn had asked for his best friend’s assistance, he was told that it was obvious, and that Gus had better things to do than spend his day on some juvenile quest to irritate Lassiter. Was he the last one to be let into the know about whatever was going on with Lassie?

Figuring it was at least worth a try, Shawn decided to try and get the information directly from the source - yeah, he could just pressure Gus into telling him, but that wasn’t half as fun as going and annoying Carly!

Of course, given that neither Jules nor Gus would be helping them, he had to turn to his last resort, his father, for at least a little assistance in getting information from Lassie, since his own astute observational skills had failed him so far. Unfortunately, all he received from him was the man’s signature “You’re being an idiot, Shawn” look. 

Shawn was clearly very out of the loop, and he couldn’t work out why. So it was back to the original plan. Straight to Lassie.

\---

Apparently Lassie didn’t like people turning up at his home unexpected, but Shawn wasn’t going to let that hinder him on his quest to work out what was going on with the detective, so entered anyway, despite the protests he received against it.

“Spencer, what are you doing here?” Lassie exclaimed as Shawn took a seat on his couch, completely unconcerned by the fact that he had just stormed into the other’s house.

“Well, Lassie Face, a certain little bee told me that something’s up with you, and that I need to be nicer to you, and I seem to be the only one out of the loop here about what’s going on.”

“A little bee… you mean bird-”

“I’ve heard it both ways!”

Lassie rolled his eyes, “Of course you have. And I don’t know what you have heard, but there is nothing wrong with me. So how about you leave, and let me spend my evening in peace?”   
  
“No can do, Carly, you’re stuck with me until you tell me what the spirits have failed to inform me of!” Shawn exclaimed cheerfully, shuffling over on the sofa to sit closer to Lassie, leaning into his side.

“Spencer,” he said through gritted teeth, “get off of me.”

Shawn, on the look out for the little things, had, unfortunately for Lassie, begun to put things together. The redness of Lassie’s face, and the way it took him slightly too long to push Shawn off. The way that Jules’s speech had some resemblance to a shovel talk, and Gus and Henry’s reactions. It all made sense.

Although it felt a little mean to pull the whole psychic shtick, Lassie had kept this from him, so Shawn began to move, as though he was being taken over by the spirits.

“Oh my! I think the spirits have something! They are telling me… Wow, well Lassie, I didn’t expect that!”

He could see the detective’s face morphing to something beyond anger or embarrassment… fear? That wasn’t right… for all that Shawn enjoyed being a thorn in Carlton’s side, he never wanted the man to fear him, for any reason.

“Well I guess, it’s your lucky day,” he said, making his way back over to where Lassie sat, taking a seat in his lap. He watched the detective’s ears and neck flush, not the way his face had just moments before out of anger, but for another reason entirely.

“Shawn…” Carlton’s low voice whispered.

“Is this okay? Consent is hot, of course, even just for kissing, and I’m not quite sure if a psychic visio-”

Lassie didn’t bother letting him finish. He had a good way to get Shawn to shut up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was so much fun to write!! i definitely plan to write more fic for these two in the future!! i hope you enjoyed :)

**Author's Note:**

> let me know what you thought! thanks for reading :)


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